Supervisors expose rift with School Board, frustration boils to surface

An item placed on the agenda at the beginning of Tuesday night's Board of Supervisors meeting at the request of Supervisor Bob "JJ" Orth proved to be the most contentious and will likely be a polarizing moment.

During an item about a discussion of the new Page Middle School, Orth and fellow supervisors Andy James and Ashley Chriscoe seized the moment to rip the School Board, the new Page Middle School design and Superintendent Ben Kiser.

How does anyone think Orth's comment that the "wool's been pulled over our eyes" in regard to the new school's purpose will play at the next School Board meeting?

Or how about this from Chriscoe, who said that the county is closing in on two years from the day of the tornado and "all we've done is clear a few trees. Other localities were dealt the same hand and those kids are already going back to school in a building."

James said the teachers he talks to say their hands are tied and "they are afraid to say much of anything."

Even Supervisor John Northstein, normally a conciliatory voice on the Board, piped up, saying teachers are "fearful" of speaking out about their concerns about the new school.

The comments drew the ire of fellow supervisors Louise Theberge and Carter Borden. Theberge said the discussion harkened back to the infamous Board of Supervisors meeting on the night of Jan. 2-3, 2008, when the supervisors engaged in "atrocious behavior" by discussing and voting on the method of school funding without the School Board's involvement or prior knowledge of the vote.

On Tuesday night, the supervisors should have invited School Board members for a question and answer session instead of having the supervisors "up here beating on drums and getting upset about things and making assumptions," Theberge said.

The supervisors put an idea out in the community that may or may not be valid and it's not fair to the School Board, she said. Theberge added that she would be very upset about the School Board having a discussion that would require representation from the county side without the county's involvement.

Borden said that while he may agree with statements made by the supervisors he disagrees with the approach. It was not transparency, he said.

"And non-transparency," Borden said, "is dirty politics."

Orth apologized for the discussion. He said he was acting out of sheer frustration -- he said teachers have told him the design of the new building is ridiculous but they are afraid to speak out -- and wants to do the right thing, but doesn't know how.

While James suggested holding up funding for the school until the supervisors can get some "honest answers," Borden shot down that idea.

The supervisors have voted twice to give the School Board $18 million for construction of the new middle school, Borden said.

"I was raised not to go back on that," Borden said. "I was raised not to go back on my word. I will not go back on my word."

The School Board is scheduled to meet Tuesday night in the Colonial Courthouse. A joint meeting between the two boards is scheduled for February.